Adalah and Meezan Appeal to Supreme Court Against Administrative Detention Order for Palestinian Citizen of Israel Signed Off Two Days After Defense Minister Suspends Use of Measure Against Jewish Settlers
Today, 5 December 2024, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Meezan Organization for Human Rights (Nazareth) filed an appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court against a six-month administrative detention order issued by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz against a Palestinian citizen of Israel just two days after Katz announced that he would refrain from issuing similar orders against Jewish Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. On 25 November 2024, the Nazareth District Court approved the detention order, signed a day earlier, against a 33-year-old Palestinian man from Yafat an-Naseriyye who was arrested for alleged terrorism-related offenses. After he had spent approximately a week in detention, the authorities failed to establish any evidentiary basis to warrant filing an indictment against the man. The court’s approval of the detention order was based on secret evidence that was not disclosed to the detainee or his legal counsel, and after the court refused to address the discriminatory nature of the order.
Click here to read the appeal (Hebrew)
The appeal, filed by Adalah Attorney Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi, and Meezan Attorneys Mustafa Mahameed and Omar Khamaiseh, addresses both the individual circumstances of the case and broader principled matters arising from it. It argues that the individual’s right to due process was grievously violated, as the materials disclosed to the defendant were grossly inadequate and denied him a fair opportunity to defend himself.
In the appeal, Adalah and Meezan referred to an announcement issued by Defense Minister Israel Katz on 22 November 2024 that administrative detention would no longer be used against Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Katz stated in the announcement, “It is inappropriate for Israel to take such severe measures against settlers… If there is suspicion of criminal acts, suspects can be prosecuted, and if not, other preventive measures can be used without resorting to administrative detention.” It was further reported that in a conversation with United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, Katz stated that this move is “driven by a commitment to democratic principles, which do not allow in any democracy in the world, including the United States, the use of such orders against citizens without a legal process.”
The two organizations argued that Katz’s acknowledgment of the undemocratic and oppressive nature of administrative detention is accurate and necessary. However, his decision to halt its use exclusively against Jewish settlers in the West Bank is unlawful as it allows for selective and racially discriminatory application of the law. The organizations emphasized that administrative detention, which allows for indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial, has been systematically and disproportionately used against Palestinians since the establishment of the State of Israel.
After reports yesterday that the Defense Minister would back a decision to end the use of administrative detention against settlers, he confirmed today on Twitter, “The policy I decided on regarding administrative detention is in force and fully implemented.”
Attorney Nareman Shehadeh Zoabi from Adalah stated:
“This case underscores that the application of two separate legal systems based on national and ethnic identity is not unique to the West Bank but is a defining characteristic of Israel’s regime in all areas under its control. Israel’s Defense Minister signed an administrative detention order against a Palestinian citizen of Israel shortly after announcing the exemption r of Jewish settlers from this draconian measure. This decision further proves that the logic underlying this practice is rooted in racism and unabashedly aims to entrench Israeli apartheid.”
Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90
